MY JOURNAL! Eating my own words....

[DaChickenShowYo]

I've started a new routine and will keep my progress here. My goals are mainly to get stronger, but also to get bigger, and maybe more lean. Right now I am 15, 5'10", 165 lbs, 11%bf.

Here are my lifts from my last two workouts:

Bench 160
Squat 175x3 (worst lift)
Deadlift 225x2
Overhead strict press 105x3
Dips BW+25lbs x 8 (just started these)
Skull crushers 75 x 6
Curls 75x6
Chins BW +25lbs x 4
Bent over barbell rows 135x6
Powercleans 115 x 3
Dumbell clean and press 80 lb dumbells x 3
Hang from chin bar with 75lbs around waist for about 30 seconds
Decline weighted situps 50lbs on chest x 10

Here's the routine I've currently been doing for 2 weeks:

1st week:
Monday:
Warmup with hyperextensions and low weight squats building up.
Squats 2x1-5
Deadlifts 2x1-5
Optionally 1x1-8 front squats
Optionally 1x1-6 SLDLs
Chins 1x4-10
Bent over barbell rows 3x2-6
Overhead press 2x1-6
Optionally Db bench press 1x2-6
Optionally dips 1x4-6
Weighted decline situps 1x2-10
Optionally side bends 1x2-8
Optionally one set of grip work

2nd week:
Monday:
Warmup with light dips and chins and hypers
Powerclean 4 or 3 setsx1-5 reps
Weighted dips 4 or 3 setsx2-8 reps
Optionally Skullcrushers 1 or 2x2-8 reps
Curls 1x4-8
Optionally chins 1x4-8
Optionally dumbell rows 1 or 2x4-10
Rotor cuff exercise 1x6-10
Optionally arm wrestle exercise (its a wierd one) 1x4-8
Weighted decline situps 2x2-8
Side bends 1 or 2x2-8
Weighted hyperextensions 2 or 3x4-10
1 or 2 sets of grip work
Optionally front squats 1x4-8

Optional exercises I do only if I feel like I need the work.
I realize this is alot for one workout, that's why I have a week between them. Some muscles, such as hamstrings, lowerback, and traps need that long to recover on this routine. I have a good high cal high protein diet and usually at least 7 hours of sleep. I'll keep to this routine for a while and see what results I get.

I was on a similar one before, but hurt my back and couldn't lift for 2 months. Since then I've built my lifts back up close to what they used to be.

[Orange357]

You work out only one day a week? want to explain you philosophy here..

[DaChickenShowYo]

There's no reason to work any more if I can hit my whole body adequately and still make progress.

I also have many schedule constraints. It would be hard for me to find time to work out 3+ times a week. I might get two workouts a week sometimes instead. But I'll try to stick with one for a while and see how it goes.

[syntekz]

Personally, if you are training hard with some degree of intensity. I don't see how you can train just once a week doing that many sets.

[DaChickenShowYo]

Worked out today:

Powercleans, 105lbsx11 reps (WHOA!), 125x1, 115x4

Front squats 115lbsx8 reps (tired from powercleans)

Dips BW+25lbsx4 reps (again tired from powercleans), BW+10lbsx8 reps, BW+10lbsx5 reps

Decline situps, 50lbsx13 reps (YAY!)

Hyperextensions/glute/ham/gastroc raise, 50lbsx8 reps

Side bends 80lb dumbells x12 reps (grip gave)

Curls 70lbs x 9 reps

Rotor cuff exercise 10lb dumbell x 5 reps

Arm wrestle exercise 30lb dumbell x 6 reps

Grip work, held 80lb dumbells for 30 seconds

Good workout. Made progress on most lifts. I think the better powerclean is from taking a narrow stance instead of wide.

[PowerManDL]

Why exactly are you doing 11 reps with power cleans?

[Mystic Eric]

Originally posted by DaChickenShowYo


Arm wrestle exercise 30lb dumbell x 6 reps

wtf?!??!

[DaChickenShowYo]

The arm exercise is hard to explain term. It's kind of like a reverse rotor cuff exercise. It makes my shoulders burn like hell, so I'm gonna keep doin it for a while.

Powerman, when I picked up the bar I wasn't planning to do that many reps. The week before I had only done 3 reps, so I was planning on getting 4 or 5. But instead of doing it with a wide stance, how I've been doing them, I tried a more narrow one, and was able to do 11 reps.

Sore like nothing else today. Can't think of a muscle that isn't sore. I think I'll be sticking to this routine for a while, but we'll see. Yesterday's workout took and hour, maybe an hour and 10 mins.

[PowerManDL]

You seem to miss the point. Explosive, multiple-compound exercises (read: Olympic lifts) shouldn't be done for more than 5, maybe 6 reps. If you found it was that easy to do the reps, you should have increased the weight and done it that way.

Doing OL movements for more reps than that will lead to fatigue and breakdown in form, resulting in ineffectiveness of the reps at best and injury at worst.

You seemed to notate that you were "tired" from the cleans for the rest of the workout. That should have given you some clue.

On another note, what's with combining an athletic-type strength program with HIT?

[DaChickenShowYo]

I am very aware of the rep ranges I should be using for an olympic or similar to olympic lift. I don't like to stop a set once I've started, regardless of how easy it is to move the weight, unless its and extreme example, which this is not. The 11 reps wasn't to complete failure. I could have pulled off another rep or two if I tried. Consider it a warmup....

You're comment about me being tired in some lifts after powercleans is irrelevant. It wasn't an extreme case of fatigue. I could still do my routine with progress. If you are tired from rows, will you stop and go home before your chins? Of course not. I realize rows don't compare to olympic lifting in these terms, but don't worry about it.

You could tell me to put the powercleans at the end of the workout. I would rather not. I believe in using my full energy on the most energy taxing exercises. Its easier for me to see strength progress this way, and for me, if the main energy taxing exercise is at the end of the workout (when I'm already tired), I tend to slack off and lose form. Just my preference. I still had lots of energy through the whole workout, there was no reason to stop after powercleans. If I was extremely fatigued, I would stop. With three years of training I know reasonably well my 'limits'.

I'm not combining any type of program with another. I put this routine together based on my goals. Please don't give me any 'that won't work' criticism until I'm done with this one. We'll see how it progresses in the weeks to come.

[PowerManDL]

LMAO @ Chicken

[DaChickenShowYo]

Wow, something must be very funny to you. Care to tell us what?

[PowerManDL]

Well Chicken, I could give you a list, but I'd rather not sit here all night.

[DaChickenShowYo]

Oooo nice one. Somehow I predicted that kind of a rebuttal from you. Seeing as how you're going to sit there all night anyway, why don't you enlighten us.

[PowerManDL]

Listen 16 year old, if I wanted lip from you I'd unzip my pants.

[DaChickenShowYo]

15. Glad to see we have a mature adult member that has something to back up his words.

I hate to be disrespectful to my elders, but you're giving me justification for it.

[PowerManDL]

Kid, I got plenty to back up my words. What do you have?

[DaChickenShowYo]

Lifts that will well surpass your's in a few years.

More progress in a month than you had in all almost 4 months of your 'inferior routine'.

I've already given you explanations for the problems you stated you had with my routine.

Plus the fact that I am likely bigger and stronger as a 15 year old than you were at 18 or older.

[DaChickenShowYo]

All I'm asking you to do is explain your problems with my routine. If you can't do that, then you have already lost this argument.

[PowerManDL]

Originally posted by DaChickenShowYo
Lifts that will well surpass your's in a few years.

More progress in a month than you had in all almost 4 months of your 'inferior routine'.

I've already given you explanations for the problems you stated you had with my routine.

Plus the fact that I am likely bigger and stronger as a 15 year old than you were at 18 or older.

Now *this* is funny....

More progress than me, huh? I can't recall having a week where I actually regressed on a given lift, as you did on your weighted dips, and only one rep improvement on the power clean top set.

And no, I was still stronger than you at 18 when I started lifting.

[DaChickenShowYo]

Let's look at your first journal. In the beginning:

155x3 for powercleans
135x3 for pushpress
+70x3 for pullups
30x6 for hammercurls
350x3 deadlifts
255x8 SLDLs
35x12 russian twists
60x12 reverse hyper
440x8 calves
225x3 benchpress
250x6 OL squat
190x3 incline bench
70x10 tricep extension

After:
265x5 OL squat (+15lbs)
315x6 SLDL (+ bout 60)
255x1 bench press (+ maybe 25)
+55x8 pullups (- bout 10lbs)
40x5 curls (+ maybe 5 lbs. because normal curls stronger than hammers)
110x6 tricep extensions (+35)
145x5 push press (+10)
185x3 incline bench (-5 lbs)
155x3 powercleans (0 increase or decrease)

Good actually. Nice squat, deadlift, and tricep strength increases.
Then again, some lifts went down, and powercleans stayed the same.

[PowerManDL]

The concept of rep ranges is foreign to you, isn't it? As must be the idea of not going to failure.

The +55x8 is not a drop since I was doing +60 for triples at the beginning.

The incline press is not a drop because I didn't go to failure.

The power clean is irrelevant because I was training it for strength-endurance purposes, not for gain.

There is a such thing as sub-maximal training, which is what a lot of those lifts were.

The lifts I explicitly wanted stronger got stronger. The rep ranges I wanted to increase increased. What's your point?

[DaChickenShowYo]

Forget it. Leave this in the chatroom, not the journal.

[PowerManDL]

[DaChickenShowYo]

Suprise suprise power....

I haven't been able to post cuz my comps been broken, but its good now so here's what I did saturday:

Squats:
Warm up:
95lbs - 8 reps
145 - 4 reps
165 - 1 rep
Working:
195lbs - 3 reps! (+20lbs)

Deadlifts:
Warm up:
135lbs - 6 reps
Working:
235 - 1 (Almost to my old max)
185 - 8 reps

SLDLs:
Working:
185 - 6 reps (really this was my first time to seriously try these, didn't want to push it after those squats)
135 - 10 reps

Strict OH press:
Warm up:
45 - 15 reps
Working:
125 - partial rep
105 - 3 reps (maintained =\)

DB bench press:
Working:
60's - 4 reps (+2 reps)

Weighted chins:
Working:
Wierd drop set using 20lbs, 10lbs, and bodyweight
Went to near failure on each weight twice, sore like hell next day.

Curls:
Working:
70 - 9 reps

Skull crushers:
Working:
70 - 4 reps

Weighted decline situps:
Working:
+60lbs. - 6 reps + crunches

Weighted side bends:
Working:
80lbs - 10 reps + static contraction (just to let ya know, I could use more weight on this but my gym's dumbells only go up to 80, and my grip gives out at about 10 reps

Static hold:
Working:
80 lb. dumbells for 30 seconds

SLDLs, curls, skull crushers, and deadlifts were submaximal (=P)

Good workout! Happy with the squat. I may deviate 'a little' from my origional routine. Alot of it depends on my time and how I feel.

Weight was 169 today.